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A New Zealand judge has given her approval for Kim Dotcom to sue the GCSB, the island nation's intelligence service, for violating his rights in the run-up to the January raid on his mansion. Judge Helen Winkelmann also ordered the government to turn over details about the GCSB's surveillance activities against Dotcom, rejecting the New Zealand government's argument that such disclosures could harm national security and the island nation's relationship with the United States.

Dotcom filed a lawsuit against the New Zealand government after a judge ruled that the January raid had been illegal because it had been carried out with an invalid search warrant.

Kim Dotcom suspects that the government's surveillance of him may have been more extensive than the government has previously acknowledged, and that some information may have been inappropriately shared with the United States. For example, there are rumors that an FBI official watched a live video feed of the raid from their headquarters in Washington, DC. Now, he'll be able to put those suspicions to the test.

The GSCB "must disclose anything they shared with other intelligence agencies in the 'Five Eyes' intelligence alliance—made up of the US, Australia, UK, and Canada," according to one news report. "And they must reveal if they carried out surveillance on Doctom's wife Mona and his co-accused Bram van der Kolk."

To address the government's intelligence concerns, the court will appoint a lawyer named Stuart Grieve as an independent expert to review the classified material and decide which material is relevant to the case and which information might compromise national security.

Wow....a judge doing his duty. They are suppose to be a balance for the other branches. In the US they roll over every time someone says national security without even looking at validity of the claim.

I wonder if any of this will actually change the way governments act regarding these things in the future.

No. They will just make sure to be more secretive about it. They are not here for you and me because we are not the ones paying their salaries.

I think it will set an important precedent. Western governments will think twice before they issue extradition requests for frivolous, retarded crap. The ruling will place a check on the methods of intelligence services engaged in copyright cases. They will be less likely to claim copyright as national security.

Well it looks like NZ really screwed up. Don't really care about NZ's relationship with the U.S. and also I don't see any thing intelligent coming out of NZ. so they don't have an argument there. The U.S. and it's lackey's should back away now. There's just too many eyes on it. Yelp, NZ is screwed.

NZ is screwing up because their court system is actually doing the job they should be doing?

I wonder if any of this will actually change the way governments act regarding these things in the future.

No. They will just make sure to be more secretive about it. They are not here for you and me because we are not the ones paying their salaries.

That was my point... Let me go add a "/s" so maybe the sarcasm doesn't need to be pointed out anymore.

I wouldn't count out that nothing will change. I think this mess reveals two things. It shows the US government that they can't just expect the law to look the other way just because it deals with copyright, and it shows other companies that they can have a chance at winning if they fight back. I think the second one is more important.

Begs the question... they could put this muchTime, effort and money into getting Dotcom, why couldn't they put the same effort to convict (or even investigate) the leaders of the Wall Street fiasco that misappropriated about $1 TRILLION?This just reminds me of how rigged the system is. Makes it hard not to lose faith in the entire system. The corruption runs much deeper than the MAFIAA.

Seems like enough people with zero investment in the success or failure of this particular case have been dragged into it and as a result things have suddenly started becoming more sensible. Funny how that works.

Wow....a judge doing his duty. ...Cheers to you Judge Helen Winkelmann, for doing what is right.

A judge doing her duty.

Why the italics around "her"?

To emphasise the point of difference between the original and the reply. It probably could have been similarly done by highlighting the "his" in the original post. In any case, the judge is a woman, and saying she was doing his duty seemed somehow incorrect.

I wonder if any of this will actually change the way governments act regarding these things in the future.

No. They will just make sure to be more secretive about it. They are not here for you and me because we are not the ones paying their salaries.

I will tell everyone this:

Anyone who believes this is not only stupid, but also dangerously ignorant.

Period.

The truth is that they actually do care about what people have to say. We do indeed pay their salaries, albeit indirectly.

People love to think that the world is against them - that it is all a conspiracy, man - but it isn't. Its a convenient lie that people tell themselves to make the world make more sense, to make themselves feel more important, feel like they are in on a secret. But it isn't true.

The truth is that, generally speaking, they aren't trying to be nefarious, they are trying to do their jobs.

The truth is that Kim Dotcom is a criminal and a bad person.

The truth is that law enforcement isn't - and never will be - flawless.

And the truth is that in the end this is all wankery on Kim Dotcom's part. His blubbering about his rights being violated doesn't change what he did, nor does it change the fact that ultimately, it is irrelevant.

You know why?

Because he's being tried in the US, and the US government didn't violate his rights. Even if the search warrant proves illegal under New Zealand law, it won't matter because guess what? The FBI didn't conduct the raid, and it was done in good faith by the Kiwis. No, don't argue, you're wrong. They had a warrant. The fact that it was later found to be overbroad (which was why it was overturned) doesn't change that fact one bit; the people raiding his compound believed that they had a valid warrant because it was valid at the time.

I'm really tired of seeing this drivel.

Does the FBI, CIA, ect. do stupid, shady stuff? Yes! Of course they do. So do most corporations. So do YOU, personally. You are no better than they are, with your pirated movies. You just lack the power that they have, so your screw-ups are smaller in scope and scale. But that doesn't mean you don't hurt people when you think you can get away with it; it doesn't mean you aren't careless about other people at times. And indeed, ultimately, the FBI doesn't do this because the RIAA or MPAA holds their leash, but because they are there to enforce US law.

Enforce US law, on a guy not in the US, not a US citizen, and possibly not breaking the laws of his land? I just declared being a sanctimonious ahole illegal in my house, I will have your local authorities raid your home to extradite you to my house for trial, how's that sound?

Because he's being tried in the US, and the US government didn't violate his rights. Even if the search warrant proves illegal under New Zealand law, it won't matter because guess what? The FBI didn't conduct the raid, and it was done in good faith by the Kiwis.

You have proven by commenting on all Ars copyright articles that you are utterly retarded.

NZ police did the raid on behalf of FBI. Let me repeat that for you until it sinks in -- they raided him because FBI asked them to. Yes, FBI was behind the Dotcom raid. The FBI asked NZ police to raid Dotcom's house.

Did you get it yet? In case you didn't here it goes:

NZ police did the raid on behalf of FBI. Let me repeat that for you until it sinks in -- they raided him because FBI asked them to. Yes, FBI was behind the Dotcom raid. The FBI asked NZ police to raid Dotcom's house.

What that means? It means that he can go after FBI and damn well he should, if nothing else then at least to ruin your day.

I wonder if any of this will actually change the way governments act regarding these things in the future.

No. They will just make sure to be more secretive about it. They are not here for you and me because we are not the ones paying their salaries.

I will tell everyone this:

Anyone who believes this is not only stupid, but also dangerously ignorant.

Period.

The truth is that they actually do care about what people have to say. We do indeed pay their salaries, albeit indirectly.

People love to think that the world is against them - that it is all a conspiracy, man - but it isn't. Its a convenient lie that people tell themselves to make the world make more sense, to make themselves feel more important, feel like they are in on a secret. But it isn't true.

The truth is that, generally speaking, they aren't trying to be nefarious, they are trying to do their jobs.

The truth is that Kim Dotcom is a criminal and a bad person.

The truth is that law enforcement isn't - and never will be - flawless.

And the truth is that in the end this is all wankery on Kim Dotcom's part. His blubbering about his rights being violated doesn't change what he did, nor does it change the fact that ultimately, it is irrelevant.

You know why?

Because he's being tried in the US, and the US government didn't violate his rights. Even if the search warrant proves illegal under New Zealand law, it won't matter because guess what? The FBI didn't conduct the raid, and it was done in good faith by the Kiwis. No, don't argue, you're wrong. They had a warrant. The fact that it was later found to be overbroad (which was why it was overturned) doesn't change that fact one bit; the people raiding his compound believed that they had a valid warrant because it was valid at the time.

I'm really tired of seeing this drivel.

Does the FBI, CIA, ect. do stupid, shady stuff? Yes! Of course they do. So do most corporations. So do YOU, personally. You are no better than they are, with your pirated movies. You just lack the power that they have, so your screw-ups are smaller in scope and scale. But that doesn't mean you don't hurt people when you think you can get away with it; it doesn't mean you aren't careless about other people at times. And indeed, ultimately, the FBI doesn't do this because the RIAA or MPAA holds their leash, but because they are there to enforce US law.

That doesn't excuse law enforcement from violating people's rights. If they mess up, they should deal with it and learn from it the next time. They shouldn't get a free pass.

Pretty sure you would be blubbering too if law enforcement was running roughshod over your liberties. Rights are called 'rights' because everyone gets them, regardless of what they have been accused of.

Since the NZ court found the warrant to be invalid, they technically didn't have a warrant. That is why the judge called the search illegal. I don't think this is going to be helpful in getting Dotcom extradited, and if he isn't extradited, there will be no US trial.

I understand you don't like the illegal downloading or Kim Dotcom, but declaring he doesn't deserve the rights that other people get in order to punish him doesn't make you a hero. It makes you appear more like an inquisitor.